Sunday, May 31, 2015

A crowd of Londoners have just created a human rainbow along the Thames to celebrate and push for equality.

Dozens of eager volunteers put on their T-shirts and tops in varying colors in order to raise awareness of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).

Organized by Stonewall, it was intended to kick off the pro-LGBTI events that will be held around the world from Kenya to Kyrgyzstan.

James Taylor, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Stonewall said: "International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia brings the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community and its allies from around the world together with one clear message: equality".

IDAHO is a great chance not just to celebrate the progress made towards LGBT equality but also about how much there is left to do.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

The young American vlogger traveled from U.S. shores to Ireland early last week, camera in hand, with the Human Rights Campaign's Ty Cobb. Braun's video journal of the trip captures the suspense felt across Ireland during the days before voting.

The first constituency has announced their official result in the Irish Marriage Equality Referendum.

62.1% percent voted for the measure, with 37.9% percent voting against. The result was announced in Dublin Castle, to a huge jubilant crowd.

Over a million people supported equality, with 1,201,607 voting Yes and just 734,300 voting No, despite fears that a stronger turnout among older religious voters, who are more likely to oppose would might sway the outcome.

In Dublin 70% voted in favor of extending marriage to same-sex couples.

Earlier this morning, just two hours after counting began, No-campaigners conceded defeat and congratulated the Yes-side on their hard earned victory.

Moscow Pride has been banned again this year, Moscow town hall announced: "We have warned the organisers that the demonstration will not be authorised", the mayoral spokesperson said.

This year marks the tenth time the organizers attempted to obtain permission to hold a Pride event in Moscow; like every year since 2006 permission was denied and no reasons were given.

The organizers had applied to hold two meetings and a march which was supposed to end in a demonstration outside the mayor’s office on 30 May; all three events attracted a hundred people each but some activists have been attacked and arrested.

In the past any attempts at carrying out a public event, such as the demonstration for IDAHOT on 17 May, have been dispersed by Moscow’s police, but the organizers said they will not give up.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Russian police detained 17 gay rights activists in Moscow yesterday at a rally to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHO).

Over 50 people assembled on a square outside a Moscow theater and had planned to release colorful balloons into the air during the flashmob demonstration, but a crowd control police drove up a bus and started shoving the protesters inside before they managed to unfurl any banners or chant any slogans or release any balloon into the air.

The LGBT activists were arrested under Russia's 2013 law banning so-called gay propaganda. The LGBT community has come under increased pressure in Russia as President Vladimir Putin has charted a more conservative course since starting his third term in 2012. After that date, most of LGBT events and demonstrations have been forbbiden in Russia.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

A monument dedicated to LGBT veterans will be unveiled in a national cemetery near Chicago on Memorial Day, in a celebration of the first federally approved monument to LGBT veterans.

A black granite slab flanked by two blocks of pale granite, the monument will feature the five seals of the military’s main branches – the army, navy, marine corps, coast guard and air force – as well as the the emblem of the merchant marines.

The memorial has been planned by the Chicago chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER). Cemetery office supervisor Lynne Phelan said it is, to the best of her knowledge, the first such approved monument.

The monument will also include an etching that reads: “Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have served honorably and admirably in America’s armed forces. In their memory and appreciation of their selfless service and sacrifice this monument was dedicated.”

He is the first European Union leader, and only the second leader worldwide, to marry someone of the same sex. It comes five years after Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the then prime minister of Iceland, became the first serving leader in the world to marry a same-sex partner.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Since June 2014, the Islamic State has proudly documented the brutal murders of five men accused of having same-sex relations in Iraq. In recent months, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported killings by the Islamic State of four men also accused of “sodomy”.

These cruel acts add to the Islamic State’s countless other well-publicized murders of individuals apparently because of their faith, their demeanor, their dress, or because they were accused of adultery or other “transgressions”.

Even before these executions, the Islamic State, on its website, had sworn its intent to punish homosexual acts with death. While no precise details are available as to the victims’ identities or circumstances, the gruesome public spectacles are clearly intended to instill terror among the region’s LGBT people, long marginalized and persecuted.

The international community must confront the latest onslaught–photos that show men being thrown from tall buildings, and details on some being stoned and shot to death before assembled crowds. We cannot look away from these atrocities. There are steps that can be taken to protect LGBT people and others fleeing the violence.

You can join IGLHRC call to the United Nations and governments engaged in the region to help protect them.